Nokia Hints Wider Use Of Linux In Phones, Not Android

The world’s biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia, could start to use open-source Linux software on its more expensive phone models, a senior company official said on Tuesday. Nokia recently unveiled a smart phone N97 recently.

“In the longer perspective, Linux will become a serious alternative for our high-end phones,” Ukko Lappalainen, vice president at Nokia’s markets unit, told in an interview on the sidelines of the “Nokia World” industry conference.

Linux’s role in the handset industry is growing as Google has introduced its Linux-based Android platform, but Lappalainen said Nokia was likely to stick to its own Linux development.

Nokia uses Linux maemo software in its niche offering of Internet tablets, while it uses Symbian software for its phones.

“I don’t see anything in Android which would make it better than Linux maemo,” Lappalainen said.

We will have to wait and see in the future, whether Nokia really builds Linux based high-end phones, but its actually an indication that the balance is tilting in the direction of the Linux OS.